Essential Live Albums

[McParadigm]

One of my favorite descriptions of Dylan is that he’s telling you the truth and making fun of you at the same time. I think Paul Simon said that.

I think that description speaks to one of the biggest reasons that almost every Dylan cover falls horribly flat (to me), Watchtower included. Most performances are too self-serious and respectful, like they’re passing down an important prophecy or something. They infuse the original work with all of these dynamic theatrics that ultimately just feel histrionic (to me).

[liebzz]

I love a good Dylan cover anyway.

[liebzz]

Rage Against the Machine - The Battle of Mexico City

I could wistfully say there was a time that RATM was all piss and vinegar…but they never stopped being all piss and vinegar. They are intense, as in maybe the most intense band I’ve covered here. A cocktail of loud ass rock, Zach De La Rocha spitfire, social justice warriors, and a turntable like guitar squall. All of this, of course, is awesome - maybe save for some casual fans caught up in the adrenaline and catching none of the message, looking to bust skulls in the world’s largest mosh pit. That’s the visual I have listening to this, even though I have long been a fan of their work and continue to be. And on the live albums and their shows, it is what it was meant to be, the focus and energy multiplying exponentially from the record. This isn’t my favorite of the live tracks I have heard from them, but the blitz of energy is quite familiar, even if I have never made it to their shows. Even if it’s not the cleanest version, I’ll take Freedom, where the energy boils over.

The Essential Performance: Freedom

Up Next: Cypress Hill - Live at the Fillmore

[liebzz]

Cypress Hill - Live at the Fillmore

I haven’t listened to this one in a long time. I thought it would be interesting to hear it right after RATM since at this point, Cypress Hill was approaching rock music from the foundation of rap music rather than the other way around. In the vein of it’s been a while is that every track has a parental warning on it. Ludicrous. That said, they move expertly between hits, How I Can Just Kill a Man > Insane in the Brain, lesser known tracks like Checkmate, a pure stoner medley in I Wanna Get High > Stoned is the Way of the Walk > Hits From the Bong, and then closing out with their current hit, (Rock) Superstar. Man, back in the early 90s I feel like I wore out Black Sunday, and this brings me back.

The Essential Performance: (Rock) Superstar

Up Next: The Roots - Come Alive

Note - this is likely a couple weeks set break. I’ll be away for a bit but we’ll be coming back.

[liebzz]

Alright, with this short break, time for another list - updates too 50 from this journey out of 258 so far:

50. Grateful Dead - Live / Dead
49. Led Zeppelin - How the West Was Won
48. Pearl Jam - Vault #6: Inglewood, CA 7/13/98
47. Rolling Stones - Some Girls Live in Texas
46. Rolling Stones - Live at the El Mocambo 1977
45. Metallica - S&M
44. Pearl Jam - MTV Unplugged
43. Pink Floyd - Pulse
42. Phish - LivePhish Vol. 13: Glens Falls, NY 10/31/94
41. Phish - LivePhish Vol. 15: Atlanta, GA 10/31/96
40. Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense
39. Jimmy Page & Robert Plant - No Quarter: Unledded
38. Grateful Dead - Formerly the Warlocks: Hampton, VA October 1989
37. Little Feat - Waiting For Columbus
36. The Who - Live at Hull
35. Grateful Dead - Europe ‘72 Vol. 13: Bickershaw Festival, Wigan, England 5/7/72
34. Iron Maiden - Live After Death
33. Pearl Jam - Vault #5: Aladdin Theatre, Las Vegas, NV 11/30/93
32. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live at the Fillmore East 1970
31. Phish - Live at Madison Square Garden: New Year’s Eve 1995
30. Phish - LivePhish 04/03/98
29. Grateful Dead - The Closing of Winterland
28. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Live Rust
27. Grateful Dead - Without a Net
26. Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Weld
25. The Band - Rock of Ages
24. Grateful Dead - Veneta, OR 8/27/72: The Complete Sunshine Daydream Concert
23. Rolling Stones - Ladies and Gentlemen
22. Rolling Stones - The Brussels Affair
21. Pearl Jam - Vault #3: Washington, DC 9/19/98
20. Grateful Dead - Europe ‘72
19. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Darkness Tour
18. Phish - LivePhish Vol. 11: 11/17/97 McNichol’s Sports Arena, Denver, CO
17. Jimi Hendrix - Live at Woodstock
16. Grateful Dead - Dick’s Picks Vol. 8: Harpur College, Binghamton, NY 5/2/70
15. Bob Marley and the Wailers - Live!
14. Phish - Hampton/ Winston-Salem ‘97
13. Lynyrd Skynyrd - One More From the Road
12. Phish - LivePhish 04/04/98
11. Phish - LivePhish 12/30/97 Live at Madison Square Garden
10. Pearl Jam - Vault #7: Soldier Field, Chicago, IL 7/11/95
9. Pearl Jam - Vault #11: Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA 4/3/94
8. The Band - The Last Waltz
7. Allman Brothers Band - At Fillmore East
6. Grateful Dead - Cornell 5/8/77
5. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Hammersmith Odeon, London 1975
4. Grateful Dead - Dick’s Picks Vol. 3: Pembroke Pines, FL, 5/22/77
3. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Live 1975-1985
2. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Live at the Fillmore, 1997
1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - The Legendary No Nukes Concerts

[Higgs]

Enjoy your time off. Don't forget to relax while you're away. I find listening to some tunes helps me unwind.

[liebzz]

Got one last one in…

The Roots - Come Alive

Having seen these guys multiple times, I am pretty confident to say they are the most elastic band I have seen live. They can play anything from hip hop to rock to jazz without skipping a beat, anchored by Questlove and a great set of musicians. This live album really only scratches the surface but their skills are evident throughout, even if they spend an inordinate amount of time seeking crowd participation. The highlight of this is You Got Me featuring Jill Scott on vocals, which closes out the live portion of this. This, and beyond this, is why The Roots have been among my favorites since I first saw them in 1999.

The Essential Performance: You Got Me

Up Next: Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes - Live at the Greek

Now a set break!

[liebzz]

Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes - Live at the Greek

This has long been one of my more favored live albums over the years and it’s the perfect way to roll back into the swing of things. While in the first, song, you might need a moment to recalibrate Led Zeppelin in the hands of the Black Crowes, mostly Chris Robinson filling Robert Plant’s shoes, within just a few songs the line seems to blur and they fully embody Zeppelin, even to some extent while handling other blues covers. Jimmy Page melds incredibly well with the band, with a bit of embellishment to the songs without breaking into all out jams. Oh Well, Shake Your Money Maker, Woke Up This Morning, and Sloppy Drunk are awesome side jams to the canonic Zep catalogue on display, and this is ultimately about that, with these guys really tearing nicely into Custard Pie, What Is and What Should Never Be, In My Time of Dying, Heartbreaker, and a scorching Hey Hey What Can I Do…though my favorite ends up being Ten Years Gone where you can hardly tell it’s not the whole Zep lineup. Always loved this one.

The Essential Performance: Ten Years Gone

Up Next: Gov’t Mule - With a Little Help From My Friends

[wease]

Jimmy Page and the Black Crowes - Live at the Greek

This has long been one of my more favored live albums over the years and it’s the perfect way to roll back into the swing of things. While in the first, song, you might need a moment to recalibrate Led Zeppelin in the hands of the Black Crowes, mostly Chris Robinson filling Robert Plant’s shoes, within just a few songs the line seems to blur and they fully embody Zeppelin, even to some extent while handling other blues covers. Jimmy Page melds incredibly well with the band, with a bit of embellishment to the songs without breaking into all out jams. Oh Well, Shake Your Money Maker, Woke Up This Morning, and Sloppy Drunk are awesome side jams to the canonic Zep catalogue on display, and this is ultimately about that, with these guys really tearing nicely into Custard Pie, What Is and What Should Never Be, In My Time of Dying, Heartbreaker, and a scorching Hey Hey What Can I Do…though my favorite ends up being Ten Years Gone where you can hardly tell it’s not the whole Zep lineup. Always loved this one.

The Essential Performance: Ten Years Gone

Up Next: Gov’t Mule - With a Little Help From My Friends

If you can find any of the boots, they also did some Crowes tunes giving these shows. Really cool to hear Page adding to them.

[Kevin Davis]

I saw that tour! I loved it. Here is the setlist - tons of Physical Graffiti.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jimmy-pa ... 49420.html

[liebzz]

Gov’t Mule - With a Little Help From My Friends

New Year’s 1998, and Gov’t Mule enlists a bunch of friends to play with them. As tight as they are as a trio, this is the next level for them, with the additional guys adding a lot to their sound. Every song on here is killer, though the closing Afro-Blue goes on a bit too long. Their covers of Cortez the Killer and War Pigs are both incredible here, as is the opening Thorazine Shuffle, Look On Yonder Wall, and Soulshine. A very extended Mule is really great. All of these are toss ups for the top performance, so Look On Yonder Wall takes it by a thumbnail. This moment for this band is spectacular.

The Essential Performance: Look On Yonder Wall

Up Next: Allman Brothers Band - Peakin’ at the Beacon

[liebzz]

I saw that tour! I loved it. Here is the setlist - tons of Physical Graffiti.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jimmy-pa ... 49420.html

I wish I would have seen those shows.

[wease]

I saw that tour! I loved it. Here is the setlist - tons of Physical Graffiti.
https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jimmy-pa ... 49420.html

Jealous!

[Kevin Davis]

It was a great night — Kenny Wayne Shepherd opened for them, and the next night was The Who at the same venue. One of many formative rock n’ roll weekends.

[liebzz]

Allman Brothers Band - Peakin at the Beacon 2000

I think I covered this last year on my ABB journey and noted this is maybe the most disappointing live release from the second iteration of this band. I mean, it’s still a good live album, but it seems to lack the pop that some of the others have in spades. That said, there are plenty of highlights to go around here, especially the opening Don’t Want You No More > It’s Not My Cross to Bear. Stand Back is another worth taking off this. But much of this seems like a slightly less punctuated version of their stuff.

The Essential Performance: Don’t Want You No More > It’s Not My Cross to Bear

Up Next: Widespread Panic with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Another Joyous Occasion

[Captain Termite]

Gov’t Mule - With a Little Help From My Friends

New Year’s 1998, and Gov’t Mule enlists a bunch of friends to play with them. As tight as they are as a trio, this is the next level for them, with the additional guys adding a lot to their sound. Every song on here is killer, though the closing Afro-Blue goes on a bit too long. Their covers of Cortez the Killer and War Pigs are both incredible here, as is the opening Thorazine Shuffle, Look On Yonder Wall, and Soulshine. A very extended Mule is really great. All of these are toss ups for the top performance, so Look On Yonder Wall takes it by a thumbnail. This moment for this band is spectacular.

The Essential Performance: Look On Yonder Wall

Up Next: Allman Brothers Band - Peakin’ at the Beacon

I still listen to Cortez the Killer from this. It's one of my favorite pieces of recorded music.

[liebzz]

Widespread Panic with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band - Another Joyous Occasion

This live album melds the southern rock jammy Little Feat like vibe of Widespread Panic with the New Orleans horns and funk of the Dorty Dozen Brass Band. This leads to some pretty epic jams, as in Beehive Jam > Big Chief > Drums or the massive I Walk on Guilded Splinters. Two groups that can play can’t always play together, but here it works, bringing a propulsive energy that stays constant, and enjoyable to see each band take over in their parts. Good fun.

The Essential Performance: I Walk On Guilded Splinters

Up Next: moe. - L

[Happy Trees]

One of my favorite descriptions of Dylan is that he’s telling you the truth and making fun of you at the same time. I think Paul Simon said that.

I think that description speaks to one of the biggest reasons that almost every Dylan cover falls horribly flat (to me), Watchtower included. Most performances are too self-serious and respectful, like they’re passing down an important prophecy or something. They infuse the original work with all of these dynamic theatrics that ultimately just feel histrionic (to me).

That all applies to Frank Zappa as well.

I never realized it until now, but it might explain why Dylan has always been a big Zappa fan to the confusion and consternation of wanna-be poets everywhere.

[liebzz]

Moe. - L

This is another jam band that can really play, though less inspired by the southern influences and firmly rooted in the Northeast. Throughout the band really builds their songs into epic throw downs one after the next, with a blend of musical genres all showing up in a fast paced setting. While these guys do let up in moments, it feels more like dexterous transitions to the next big jam than pure structure. That these guys have this level of musical chemistry is pretty much off the charts, and shows itself particularly in Seat of My Pants and Plane Crash, but most epically in the closing 40 minutes of Timmy Tucker > Recreational Chemistry. These guys are really great.

The Essential Performance: Timmy Tucker > Recreational Chemistry

Up Next: Frogwings - Croakin’ at Toads

[wease]

moe. used to do a damn good cover of Elizabeth Reed.

Looking forward to your Frogwings review. I’m sure we won’t have the same favorite but I think you’ll enjoy it all the same.